Sheet-piling



l v M VII/l/I/ /AVW F. HEiDE SHEET FILING Filed Jan. 29, 1936 Aug. 24, 1937.

Patented Aug. 24, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ruck, Germany, assignor to Klockner-Werke A.-G., Castrop-Rauxel, Germany, a corporation of Germany Application January 29, 1936, Serial No. 61,388

1 Claim.

This invention relates to sheet pilings having smooth outer wall surfaces, and has for its object to provide a sheet piling of this type comprising interlocking piles and; compared with existing kinds of sheet pilings, affording the advantage of being watertight immediately after ramming without requiring special joining irons and supplementary packing means to be subsequently applied.

The invention attains its object by a special constructionof the gap formed between the interlocking connecting parts of two adjacent piles, the gap being constructed so that the elements of adjacent piles forming the interlock contact with one another along at least two vertical lines on their surface of S-shaped section while the interlocking projecting curvatures of the S establish the connection, it being immaterial whether the two piles are flush with one another or form an angle as required in producing curved sheet pilings. The attainment of the object stated makes it further necessary to reduce the maximum relative distance of the elements within the interlock to such an extent that the sum of the resistances due to the adhesion of the water in the gap and of the effect of the two contact lines is greater than the water pressure acting upon the gap.

The single irons employed in making a sheet piling that is watertight from the very start are preferably constructed so that the two lateral interlocking elements of each iron have the same weight to permit driving of the connected piles without canting and to insure uniform spacing of the interlock even in case of a very narrow gap.

The interlocking elements of the irons used for producing a sheet piling according to the invention, no matter whether they are of U- or Z-shaped section, preferably comprise on each side of the iron a bulb and a claw which together form the limiting surface curved like .an 8.

By way of example, two embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing without restricting the scope of the invention to the forms shown and described.

Figure 1 shows a sheet piling made of U-irons and Fig. 2, a sheet piling built up from irons of Z-section; and Fig. 3 is a. fragmentary sectional view showing the form of interlock applied to sheet piling made up of U-sections.

Referring to the form shown in Fig. 1, a designates the U-shaped individual section piles and b the surfaces of S-section at the joints of two adjacent piles with their two vertical contact lines and c which are slightly displaced in one or the other direction when the piles move relative to one another. It will be noted from the. drawing that there are always at least two contact lines and that even in case of another relative angular position of two piles the gap will not be unduly enlarged but always maintain practically the same cross section, notwithstanding some displacement of its broadest and narrowest parts. d designates the bulbs and e the claws of the interlocking elements, the construction of which on the sides of the pile differs in so far as on one side of the bulb and on the other the claw lies inside to insure the formation of a smooth outside of the sheet piling. The Weight of the interlocking parts and their total cross section are alike on both sides of the pile.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, the section piles at are Z-shaped in cross section, but the joints between the sections are formed in the same way as described in connection with Fig. 1 and, therefore, the same reference characters are applied to the like portions of the joint and separate description thereof is not required.

It will be seen that in both of these constructions, the flanges are shaped so as to provide an interlocking joint between S-shaped surfaces which have such a contour that they contact along lines longitudinal of the joint with crescent shaped openings between the lines, the play permissible in such crescent shaped openings being calculated as described above.

The invention provides for the first time a sheet piling without special connecting means, which is watertight immediately after driving and which dispenses with subsequent bothersome packing of the gap as required during driving of known sheet pilings of this class. Although the gap according to the invention is much narrower than in the known constructions, driving can be effected without any risk of canting and jamming, owing to the shape of the gap and the equal weight of the interlocking elements on both sides of each iron.

I claim:

A Wall of sheet piling having a substantially smooth outer surface, the terminals of each adjacent pile of which are of substantially claw shape and include a locking flange on one side and an opposite side flange, contact between the terminals on adjacent piles being only on parallel lines between each side flange and the adjacent locking flange and between adjacent surfaces of the locking flanges, and the space intervening between the ends of each of said locking flanges and the bight portion of the opposite claw being in the form of crescent shaped gaps of such width that the sum of the. resistance due to the adhesion of the water in the gaps and the resistance of the lines of contact is greater than the water pressure acting upon the gaps.

FRIEDRICH HEIDE. 

